Smita Mishra
The origin of Krishna, his historicity or divinity has always been a bone of contention among scholars. The familiar, naughty God who is probably the only Indian deity to be worshipped in all stages of his life and whose interesting life stories have been our companions ever since our childhood days, was actually a living human being- just like Buddha or Christ, is really hard to believe.
It is really amazing, but a majority of scholars contend that Krishna was actually a great living hero who was deified by his followers in due course of time and gradually became the central figure of the Bhagwat cult. This is supported by his mention in some earliest Puranas as a Satwat or Vrishni chief named Vasudeva Krishna.
One of the earliest references of Krishna is found in the Chhandogya Upanishad, which describes him as the pupil of sage Ghora Angirasa. That he is the same Krishna is proven by yet another reference to him in the same work as the son of Devaki. The pupil stays with the sage to learn about the subtleties, realities and nuances of human existence.
Some Buddhist and Jain texts also point towards Krishna as a living being. In the Buddhist text Ghata Jataka he is referred to as a prince belonging to the royal family of upper Madhura (Mathura). On the other hand the Uttardhyana Sutra of the Jainas mentions one Keshava, who was a contemporary of Arishtanemi- the 22nd Jaina Tirthankara. Both the princes belonged to the same town “Soriyapura”. Keshava was the son of Devaki and Vasudeva while Arishtanemi was born to king Samudravijay and Siva.
All these texts mention Krishna as a prince or a tribal hero. But then how did he acquire a cult status and became a god and how he came to be associated with the great movements like Bhagavatism and Vaishnavism?
The discovery of a 2nd century BC stone sculpture of “Garura” at Besnagar in Madhya Pradesh with inscriptions of a Greek ambassador Heliodorus-- showing his great reverence to “Devadeva Vasudeva” and conversion to the Bhagavat creed-- is an evidence enough to support the fact that Bhagavatism by 2nd century BC was not only an established cult but also was quite popular among people including foreigners.
The cult of Bhaktas or Bhagavats began with the deification of human hero Vasudeva Krishna and in due course it assimilated within its fold the tenets of other Vedic deities like the solar god Vishnu and his tribal counterpart- Narayana. When Bhagwadgita (3rd to 2nd century BC) propounded the doctrine of incarnation- these allied god concepts amalgamated into one and became the separate faces of the same, all encompassing divinity- Vishnu.
Gupta age witnessed a new form of Krishna worship called neo Vaishnavism. The old tribal form of Bhagvatism initiated by the members of Vasudeva’s family gradually gave way to a new form with many new features. Sri Lakshmi was introduced as the Lord’s consort during this period. And another important feature, which became very popular was the worship of the various “Avataras” or incarnations.
The contemporary religious texts mentioned ten Avataras namely, Matsya(fish), Kurma(tortoise), Varaha(boar), Narsimha(man-lion), Vamana(dwarf), Balrama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. However, many others give a different list, but it was only around middle of the 5th century BC that the name “Bhagavat” was replaced by “Vaishnava”.
Krishna’s evolution and his association with so many god forms make him even more revered and venerated. The human overtones to his character like his childhood pranks and youth escapades make him even more lovable. No wonder he commands such an important position in a religion, which has thousands and thousands of deities. After all why did only Krishna have such ardent and passionate followers like Mira, Surdas, Raskhan, Jaidev and Chaitanya?
